Today we’d like to introduce you to Joanne Augustin.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’ve always been inspired by words and the impact that they have on people and our day-to-day lives. Because of this, writing has always followed me throughout my various occupations—from being the Editorial Chair of the first student-ran Business Magazine (Critique) at Penn State, to writing persuasive sales emails promoting digital marketing campaign packages as a Sales Executive, to copywriting for enterprise restaurant clients’ email marketing campaigns, to managing content portfolios for 11 career exploration and leadership programs for high school students, and now finally, to managing my very own content development business as a self-employed Copywriter and Content Strategist. I’ve always wanted to own a business and be my own boss—I just didn’t know exactly what I wanted to pursue—there were so many things I loved. I just knew that the lifestyle that I wanted to live required a lot of flexibility and a deep passion for what I would be spending most of my time doing.
One day, I just took a really good look at what aspects of my job made me excited to come into work—all answers led back to writing and strategy (storytelling). I realized then that was what I was good at and from that point on I made a conscious effort to develop those natural talents into skilled expertise. I started freelancing as a Copywriter and Content Strategist while maintaining a full-time job—and did the side-hustle thing for a few years, while I stacked my “Dream Fund.” In June of 2018, I relocated to Atlanta, GA to pursue self-employment full-time. My boyfriend (who is also now self-employed) and I strategically picked Atlanta for its entrepreneurial spirit and environment, as well as other personal reasons. Since I’ve been in Atlanta, I have met more small business owners like myself and have created a network of inspiring, successful people who fuel me everyday.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I believe the one thing constant in life is change. Everything you do in this life is trial and error. There have absolutely been some stopping-blocks along the way—too many to list out here. However, what I will say is that every one of those stopping-blocks were necessary for growth—growth in my business and growth as an individual. One of the main struggles or challenges that many people who transition from full-time employment to self-employment face is coming to terms with the power and importance of self-awareness.
When you work for yourself, you need to constantly check yourself. It’s like when a young adult goes off to college—they no longer have their parents keeping tabs on them by making sure they get up in time for school or do their homework, and they also no longer have their teachers reaching out to them about attendance or their grades slipping. Its now completely up to them to make sure that they succeed and get the most out their decision to go to college. The same concept can be applied to solopreneurship/self-employment—you must learn personal accountability and learn to establish best practices for yourself. This can take time and requires trial-and-error.
Career.Ambition.Growth – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Career.Ambition.Growth (C.A.G) is a content development firm and inspirational blog. C.A.G started off as an inspirational blog that I created to be a resource for those who are trying to strive towards the three areas aforementioned. I came up with the name by doing an exercise where I identified my audience and the benefits of the blog. I then came up with adjectives that supported that data and Career.Ambition.Growth was born. My blog’s tagline is “A Resource for Goal-Setters.” The content that is created and shared is geared towards providing actionable advice on career development, content strategy, and lifestyle & culture topics such as personal development, self-care, and goal-setting. My audience consists of many aspiring entrepreneurs/solopreneurs and millennials/Gen Xers in Corporate America who all have a drive for their definition of success, whether that be climbing the corporate ladder or turning a side-hustle into a full-time gig. They eventually turned into my clients and my content development firm was born.
As a self-employed Copywriter and Content Strategist, I help solopreneurs (one woman or man show/independents) and small business owners align their digital brand messaging through providing content development and copyediting services for their website, email marketing efforts, marketing collateral, blogs, and social media channels. With each of my clients, I focus on crafting compelling content that clearly articulates their brand voice & mission. My specialty is in promotional copywriting such as writing an email campaign for a new product/service launch, website landing pages, and long-form (1,100-1,200 words) industry-specific blog posts. My job is to best communicate my clients’ business objectives to their target audience in a way that promotes conversion. I also offer hour-long Content Strategy consultations, where I provide a complete evaluation of a company’s current content, and based on that evaluation, deliver a comprehensive 1-month Content Strategy Plan in under an hour. For all of my content development services—I call them my C.A.G Guarantees—I conduct a competitor analysis and research what types of content are doing well in the clients’ market. I also research top performing (competitive) keywords and strategically place them into the copy for optimized SEO performance. My goal is to provide focused marketing messages that drive customers to act (i.e., conversion-driven copy).
What role has luck (good luck or bad luck) played in your life and business?
I don’t necessarily believe in the concept of luck. I believe more in the concept of manifestation and visualization. I truly believe that we are our own worst enemy. The mind is a very powerful thing. Once I realized that I can choose to either be my best friend or my worst enemy, things just started to fall into place when I constantly chose to be my own best friend. This can look like positive self-talk, controlled accountability, self-awareness, and self-care routines. I realized that when I was at my highest frequency, I manifested all of the positive outcomes that I was looking forward to. I think that vibrations and energy play a huge part in the success of your personal life and business. If you constantly come from a good place in your heart and practice mindfulness, you will draw in those top clients and those great people you need.
Now don’t get me wrong—I’m not saying just to stay in your room, Indian-style on the floor and just conjure up your own reality in your head. You have to get out and do the work. Constantly put yourself in situations where opportunity can potentially live. From a business perspective, I try my best to attend one networking event a month. I also make sure to go to non-business themed events as well because you never know who you’ll end up sparking a conversation with. And people are drawn to positive energy. Especially in this world, we’re living in, people naturally gravitate to individuals that are giving off the complete opposite energy that the “world” is. I credit where I am in my life and business to self-awareness and practicing Emotional Intelligence.
Pricing:
- Email Marketing StartUp Package—includes 8 promotional emails w/ motivating calls to action that begin relationships & turn people into customers & 1-month email marketing content calendar w/ send dates, suggested send times, & segmentation suggestions for high conversion rates—$493
- Company Website StartUp Package—includes compelling content promoting brand/product/service for (1)About Us/Me Page, (1) Mission Statement Page, (1)Contact Us/Me page, (1) Product/Service Landing Page—$531
- Content Strategy Consulting Package—includes (8) hours a Month/(2) Hours a Week of weekly consultations covering actionable advice on how to leverage Brand Awareness, Email Marketing, Online Content, Social Media, Nurture Marketing, and Influential Marketing to increase conversion rates, training on how to use content to position your brand as a Thought Leader, and assistance in defining a communications ecosystem & content mix, market positioning, and leveraging customer behavior data to evolve strategy—$400/month
Contact Info:
- Website: https://joanneaugustin.com/
- Email: strategic.content@joanneaugustin.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kreyol_writer/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KreyolWriter/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/InspiredByWordz
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
